Thursday’s late dinner was steamed king crab legs with butter, sauteed snow pea slivers, grilled peppers and mushroom, and a lettuce/tomato salad. Wine was the 2010 Defaix “Cote de Lechet” Chablis 1er. Fresh and citrusy, minerally/stony, good acids, long. B+
Friday we headed to the home of some friends for dinner- we carried along a crab salad with lime, shallot, cilantro, and avocado as well as melon and proscuitto,Rachel and Joe made peppered tuna steaks over a black bean salad with a chard and date salad.
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2010 Franciscan Sauvignon Blanc
Melon, citrus, and a little grass, pretty good acids, no apparent oak, nice on a warm evening on the back porch. B
NV Marietta Old Vines Lot 57
Juicy, more obviously zinny than some other recent Marietta OV lots, quite pleasant and a good QPR. B
Midnight Run Wine Cellars Cabernet Franc (Niagara)
OK, I run a non-profit called Midnight Run, so when Howie Hart saw a new Niagara winery called Midnight Run he very generously sent me a bottle. Since Joe was one of the founders of my group, I thought it would be fun to taste with him. Well, the name was fun.
To be charitable you could call this Loire styled, if your reference was bad Anjou. Sharp, raspberry fruit with a sour almost spoiled edge, short. Never seen so much wine left at this table. C/C-
(not my favorite wine, but very touched Howie sent!)
2010 Hart Cellars “Bordertowns Red” (Niagara)
Howie also sent some of his wine. This is a 70/30 CF/Merlot blend (which makes one think of Bordeaux), but also comes across as Loire, just this time as a good one. Ripe raspberry, spice, a hint of vanilla,leafy, medium-bodied, I think this would do fine in a Bourgueil tasting. Fine effort, thanks Howie! B+/B
Saturday dinner was all farmer’s market- grilled clams to start, then grassfed ribeye, corn, baby bok choy, and a caprese salad. The Defaix had held up well in the fridge and was a nice backdrop for the clams. With the steak, the 2006 Chateau les Lumieres (Jadot) “Cote de Py” Morgon. Medium bodied, some oak, light tannins, pleasant enough but not arresting. B/B-
Yesterday I got up early to drive Betsy to Newark for flight to Mexico (she made it, but there was an issue as the cello doesn’t have a passport) then spent a quite day. Never got around to shopping, eventually got some blue crab cakes from freezer and made fried rice and salad. Wine was the 2009 Ch. Thebaud (Pepiere-Ollivier/Granger) Muscadet. Full, racy, rich, delicious wine. More stony than fruity, but nice Meyer lemon edge. B+/A-
Tonight was feta 2 ways- grilled eggplant with olive and feta, and grilled lavash pizza with spinach and feta. Wine is the 2011 Clos Roche Blanche Pineau d’Aunis Rose (Touraine). I have a somewhat mixed relationship with PdA- the reds range from intriguing to a bit too piney/herby for me, but the pinks always seem to please. This is fleshier than I expected, ripe macerated strawberries with oregano and a little grass, nice length, pleasing. B/B+
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.